Betrayal part 4
"Ok," President Bartlet started as he walked into the office twenty minutes later. "What happened and what do we do?"
Sam, Leo, and Josh quickly rose. Sam began, "I was finishing up this speech for the Conservative Reatilion last night, and I hadn't realized how late it was. I noticed it was close to four thirty, so I started to leave. When I was walking down the left hallway corridor, I bumped into CJ. She looked really shaken up, but it wasn't..." he paused, then regained his breath, "I noticed her nylons were ripped and I began to figure out something was wrong. Then I saw the bruises...." He glanced up from the president's shoes briefly, and was instantly greeted with such furious eyes that he had to look away.
"What..." Bartlet paused. "What did she say?" He spoke in a tone none of the senior staff had ever heard of. This was the tone of a different man- a vengeful man.
"Well, I..." Sam began, "I asked her who did it to her and if he, you know...raped her." Sam blinked, shifting his gaze again to look Bartlet at eye level. "It was Allan Bernez. Some asshole, associate speechwriting bastard shit head..." he spat out, venom filling his voice.
"Sam!" Leo admonished. "Remember who you're addressing-"
"Forget it, Leo," Jed replied. "I..." he continued softly. "...was thinking the same."
Toby entered the room. "Mr. President, " he greeted Bartlet.
"Toby," Jed answered, "What did Peterson say?"
"CJ's arm is sprained. But other than that...." Toby stopped himself. "You guys, the bruises were- they were almost black," the man took a breath, "her back looked like someone had lashed her with a belt. She'll have a scar above her lip for a while....he bit her," he scoffed. "And, god...I saw her legs..." He bowed his head. "It looked like a grizzly molested her for hours."
Finally, unable to contain his furor, Josh started to head for the door. "That bastard's gonna get what's been coming to him!"
Sam turned to follow Josh, who was reaching for the doorknob. "I'm coming with you. I'm gonna kill that sick son of a-"
"Sam, Josh!" Bartlet turned and shouted at them. "You're going to stay right here. Do NOT step outside this room." The two stopped and turned to face the president.
Josh walked few paces forward. "Sir, with all due respect, that...he could've killed her. He knocked her out and molested her. Then he..."
"Josh," Jed stated in a hard, rough voice. "What happened is inexcusable. But we will press charges. I don't care how this affects my presidency, my popularity, whatever. We'll make sure the press accesses no records. But, I can't nail this bastard when I'm too busy fighting to get you and Sam out of prison for assault charges! You-" he glanced at Sam. "Both of you are not to leave White House grounds until further notice."
"Sir," Sam began to protest.
"I mean it, Sam. Stay. Here." Jed replied, his tone softening. "You're both upset, I can understand. If I were CJ's brother, or father, or- anyone else... I'd be out there, pummeling this worthless ass to unrecognizable sizes. But I can't. And neither can you." He turned to Toby. "Where's she now?"
"Upstairs in the residency. Mrs. Bartlet's looking after her for now. The doctor gave her some pills, took some blood. CJ said she wanted to press charges, if possible." Toby answered.
"Ok," Bartlet took a deep breath. "Josh, Sam. Figure out what to do. Call around. Make sure the press gets no wind of this- not even a breeze. Leo, get a phys consult. See what we should do. Ok..." his voice trailed off. "I have a few meetings today, but nothing too important." He would have laughed at the irony of that sentence if he felt like having a sense of humor that minute. "I'll have someone tell Bernez not to come in today. Keep me updated. I'm meeting all of you back here in 90 minutes. Have a game plan, I'll dig up Bernez's records, see if there's anything useful." Oh, if only he knew what "anything" he was looking for.
As soon as Bartlet let the room, Sam pulled back his arm, and jammed his fist into the wall as hard as he could. "Sam!" Leo and Josh yelled.
"What the hell are you doing?" Josh asked, grabbing Sam's arm and turning his friend away from the wall.
"I was 400 feet away the entire time," Sam shouted, his face contorted in rage and guilt. "I was watching Conan and... spell checking when he was...touching her...and hitting her, and..." He stopped, and looked away, his face and eyes crimson red.
Josh let go of the younger man's arm and eyed the fist shaped dent in the thin wall.
******To be continued. There'll be a trial. Stay tuned.
